We do not indicate an exact expiry date because these sera are very stable over time thanks to their freeze-dried form.

You may consider that they may be kept for up to 10 years from the production date (indicated in the upper right-hand corner of the product sheet). Store freeze-dried at +2° – 26°C.

For information regarding storage in the reconstituted (liquid) form, please refer to the product sheet. 

In general, liquid sera should be stored as follows:

• Store at -20°C in aliquots after reconstitution.
• Never freeze/thaw more than 3 times.
• If reconstituted, store +4°C for up to 2 days.

Once reconstituted, the sera should be aliquoted and stored in air-tight vials (preferably with a joint, such as a cryotube). Otherwise, auto-lyophilisation may occur after 6-12 months at -20°C.

As it is often difficult for routine laboratories to obtain reference standards, and as international standards do not exist for all veterinary diseases, IDvet offers freeze-dried serum standards which may be used to check that the test’s analytical sensitivity does not vary between runs, operators and batches. Please contact IDvet for more information. Please refer to the List of positive and negative sera available from IDvet.pdf.

Yes. IDvet tests meet international requirements for analytical sensitivity, as outlined in the table below:

(1) Perrin B., et al (1994). Selection of European Union standard reference sera for use in the serological diagnosis of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis. Rev. sci.tech. Off int. Epiz., 13(3), 947-960.